There is hardly a trace of the old town site of Dyea. There were buildings that housed an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people and 150 businesses at the height of the gold rush in 1898. Fewer than 500 people remained after the summer of 1898. The 33 mile Chilkoot Trail linked tidewater Dyea, AK to the Canadian headwaters of the Yukon River, which was a navigable route to the Klondike gold fields over 600 miles north. Gold seekers using the Chilkoot Trail had a 1,000 vertical foot (1/4 mile climb) as their last obstacle on the Chilkoot Trail. Most of them had to scale the pass 20-40 times in order to shuttle their required 2,000 pounds of goods. The Northwest Mounted Police required this amount of supplies (a years worth) to allow them entry into Canada. If you notice on the Alaska license plate...it depicts this image.